With the win, his third at Indy
and 37th in his career, Smith
also moved into second place in
the Pro Stock Motorcycle stand-
ings as the field is set for the
Countdown to the Champion-
ship, NHRA's six-race playoff.
"I've always said you only
need to be good at the last six
races to win a championship, so
now it's time to turn it up," Smith
said. "I will say that if I go on and
win my seventh championship, I
will take next season off. I'm not
saying I'm going to retire, but I
will take a year off and focus on
[teammates] Jianna [Evaristo]
and Angie [Smith].
"The way I see it, this cham
-
pionship is Gaige's to lose. No
matter if he won this race or lost
in the first round, he was going
to come out of here as the big-
gest loser because he's going to
lose the most points [with the
Countdown reset]. The whole
class gained on him. Now, we
just need to get him out early at
the next race. Earlier this season,
I wasn't sure if a seventh [cham
-
pionship] was possible this year,
but now I know I can do it."
Arana Jr. couldn't match
Herrera's elapsed times, but his
GETTRX Buell was the fast-
est bike in Indy with multiple
200-mph runs. The former Indy
champ scored wins against
Chris Bostick, Kelly Clontz and
Angie Smith to reach his 32nd
career final.
The next six events in the
season will now determine the
championship. While Herrera is
the top seed, his lead is now just
20 points over Smith, while the
entire top 10 is separated by just
110 points. The next event will
be the Pep Boys NHRA Nation
-
als in Reading, Pennsylvania,
September 14-17 at Maple Grove
Raceway.
Kevin McKenna
Final:
1. Matt Smith (Suz)
2. Hector Arana Jr. (Bue)
WIND
IN THE
P56
In the final, Smith (far lane) went up against
Hector Arana Jr, who red-lighted.
